Technical Multijet 1.3 Engine noise over 50mph

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Technical Multijet 1.3 Engine noise over 50mph

nerd8192

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Hi,

I have asked about my 2003 1.3 Multijet Mk2b (now has 122,000 mil on the clock) before but not really gotten much of an answer... the story is that in May I changed the oil and filter. No idea what was in there before, but used Fuchs SuperSyn Longlife 5W40. Since then the engine noise when going faster than 50mph - 2200rpm in 5th gear has gotten louder. It's loud to the point where you need to turn the radio up to hear what you're listening to. In my previous question I wondered if this was down to the timing chain, but after taking it to an independent garage that dealt with Fiats, they couldn't find anything wrong with it. Said that the problem with timing chains snapping was down to being starved of oil or wrong kind of oil in the engine. As a fairly new driver I kinda bowed to their experience, especially after they told me that 3 people took it out on a test drive and one of the mechanics accompanied me for a drive, but sadly due to roadworks, we weren't able to get it over about 40mph...

A friend of mine who has a lot more experience with cars and engines than I do said that high mileage engines would be less noisy with thicker oil, I understand that oil does dampen the sound of the engine. However which grade should I go up to?

Really I need a sensible answer - are these engines supposed to be loud at higher speeds or is there something wrong or is it just age/mileage? Certainly it helps in reducing my desire to speed - at 80mph sounds like it's about to explode!

Thanks...
 
hey any chanse of a video of how loud it gets? i have same car and for my knowlage it gets abit loud to, but never thought about it as a problem, id like to hear how yours sounds so i can fix my to if it has the same noise.
 
Don't put thicker oil in a 1.3 multijet. The engine is designed to run on thinner oil for the chain, fuel pump and turbo and I think these have hydraulic tappets, which really don't like thick oil and will make more noise if you put the wrong oil in.

If the chain guides are worn this can cause a lot of noise as the chain becomes slack and moves about.

Unless you have had the car from brand new then don't assume it's been correctly looked after with the right oils, most garages will use generic 10W 40 on every single car that comes in.

All of this said, it's not a very quiet little engine and there is little sound proofing in the mk2b so without being in the car it could all be perfectly normal
 
All of this said, it's not a very quiet little engine and there is little sound proofing in the mk2b so without being in the car it could all be perfectly normal

yeah true that, thats why i never thought of any problems, what oil do u recomend for this engine? if repairshops use one for all i rather do my own since it aint that hard. i have a yearly maintnance coming up,
 
i would suggest another oil and filter change and make sure filter is a quality one as the one fitted now might be restricting flow if fitted wrong or collapsed
 
Thank you for your replies. I will try to make a video of the sound.
 
Dumb as it sounds..... My Missus Corsa 1.3 CDTi gets quieter once it get a bit of speed on....It only really seems to be noisy at low speed and RPM
I better point out that the GM Corsa 1.3 Diesel is basically the Fiat 1.3 Multijet engine, it also gets used in a lot of other cars too....
Alfa Romeo MiTo
Chevrolet Aveo (2012)
Chevrolet Sail (India)
Chevrolet Spin (Indonesia)
Citroen Nemo
Fiat 500L
Fiat Albea
Fiat Doblò
Fiat Fiorino
Fiat Grande Punto
Fiat Idea
Fiat Linea
Fiat 500
Fiat Palio
Fiat Panda
Fiat Punto
Fiat Qubo
Fiat Strada
Fiat Tipo (2015)
Ford Ka (2008)
Lancia Musa
Lancia Ypsilon
Opel Agila
Opel Astra
Opel Combo
Opel Corsa
Opel Meriva
Opel Tigra TwinTop
Premier Rio
Peugeot Bipper
Suzuki Ertiga
Suzuki Ignis
Suzuki Splash
Suzuki Swift
Suzuki SX4
Suzuki S Cross
Suzuki Vitara Brezza
Suzuki Wagon R+
Tata Bolt
Tata Indica Vista
Tata Indigo Manza
Tata Zest
If the Timing chain was the issue you would hear a rattling noise, even with the engine idling, (just had to have that replaced as it had worn thru the guides and was making a hell of a racket).
As someone else pointed out the Multijet isn't a quiet engine, It's always nice to get back into my 1.28V Mk2/b after driving her Corsa as it's much quieter.
 
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Also, its a diesel, it takes time to get it to a good working temperature and the engine gets a nicer sound, my is also quite loud on short trips and such, but when i take it on a highway for an hour or so the engine sounds rlly quiet and good. big differance onec u drive it 1h+
 
So I have no idea if this is related to the noise, but yesterday on the way home my water pump seized and fan belt snapped. The problem was I didn't realise what had happened until I stopped 35 miles later! I realised something was wrong when I was driving back to Crewe from Coventry on the M6, around the exit for the M54 (J10a) I noticed my battery light had come on. But I didn't have breakdown cover and didn't want to get stranded miles from home. Not realising what had actually happened I just thought it was minor electrical gremlins. I drove fairly slowly and stayed behind a truck for the rest of the way, only realising when I got to the bottom of the slip road at J16 that I had no power steering. So I pulled in at the first layby on the A500 and realised the alternator wasn't connected, so no power for power steering... it wasn't until my friend showed up that he showed me what had actually happened and pointed at the tiny amount of coolant left in the reservoir.

I am hoping that I can just put a new water pump in and a new belt on and it will be OK, because the whole time I was driving the engine temperature seemed stable in the middle - didn't get the light come on for that and it looks like there is still some coolant in there...

Anyone got any experience of this? Also - getting the belt on, the tensioner, is that easy enough?

Thanks again.
 
Had a coolant pipe failure a few years ago(again on the Corsa, but as said before same engine)...Temp gauge got a little high (well it went into red and Engine cutout)....let car cool down and very hesitantly attempted to start it again...
Started without issue, very cautiously and slowly drove it home bearing in mind there was zero coolant in it.....a distance of Approx 40 Miles with one eye Glued on the temp gauge.
Pipe was a steel section that had corroded, replaced with a new pipe, coolant refilled and 3 years and 40,000 miles later Engine still runs just fine, although it is bloody noisy! (That 40,000 miles is on top of the 104,000 the car already had on the clock)
I wouldn't swear to it, but i think the electronics cut the engine before it reached seizure point, kinda like a failsafe.
It probably helps that Diesels run a much higher compression than a petrol engine, so a lot of components are much tougher than the petrol equivalent would be.
I would guess that if the engine starts and runs and doesn't seem to be making any weird noises (that it didn't make before) then you may well get away with just a new pump and belt. Regarding tensionning, haynes might be of help....https://www.fiatforum.com/downloads.php?do=download&downloadid=466
There is another thread on here about the Auxilliary drive belt which may also give some thoughts on Tensionning...
https://www.fiatforum.com/punto-ii/454109-alternator-belt-flopping-gear-ac.html
If you had a 1.2, 1.4 or 1.8 Petrol Punt i would have been thinking HG straight away, as those Engines definitely don't like running hot, but the Diesel is a very different beastie
 
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Hi Scudmonkey,

Thanks for that, I think the engine is fine too - it starts fine and doesn't sound any different really. So going to go with just putting the new pump and belt on.

The links might be useful, the Haynes is good for Torque specs at least. The problem with the 1.3 MJTD is there is bugger all printed information out there about it. I have the Haynes for Fiat 500 and New Panda which have this engine, but the bonet layout is a bit different so sometimes hard to tell what's going on!

I'll let you know what happens.

Seth
 
My MJ blew a water pump seal, emptied is entire coolant on the road and still carried on for 20 miles no harm done at all, new pump and seal fitted and drove for another 30/40k miles without any problems.

So I wouldn’t worry too much, these engines spend most of their time struggling to get up to temp i’d not worry too much about over heating
 
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